Tuesday, July 19, 2011

The Perfect Rally (How to hold a peaceful Malaysian protest, London style)

"Kuning, Kuning ... Najib Pening". Look at these pictures I took last Friday in London. Twenty eight individuals took part in the rally.It was peaceful, tak menyusahkan orang, did not obstruct traffic at all, and was rather entertaining at times. Their mantras: "Kuning, Kuning ... Najib Pening". "Zalim, Zalim ... Hisham Zalim". If this is the kind of rally we can have in Malaysia, I think a lot of people will be fine with it.

So how to hold such a peaceful rally?

Easy.

In the case of this rally:

1. The police allowed the protesters to hold a demonstration

2. The protesters agreed to confine themselves to the road divider and only to the road divider (which is about 30 feet long, I guess)

3. No protester must cross the line (except when snapping pictures of themselves)

4. A couple of uniformed cops were present to ensure that the protesters did not cross the line

5. The protesters had to observe a time limit

Ben Singh (the handsome bai in the second pic) and friends were very disciplined. They did not break any of the rules, did not provoke the Bobby present, and did not taunt the other Malaysians residing in London who came to the hotel to have dinner with the PM, wife and their delegation from Malaysia. Najib and wife were said to have waved at the protesters and, later in his dinner address to Malaysians, even mentioned "the Malaysians outside there".

I tweeted during the dinner that 97 per cent of the protesters were non-Malays. Some people on Twitter were offended and accused me of being a racist. But I was merely stating a fact. A glaring fact.

I asked a Melayu who has been residing in London for decades why the Bersih protest drew the non-Malays and hardly any Malay. His answer was frank.

"When we Malays merantau abroad, especially after we have lived and worked abroad for years, we tend to be grateful to the Government back home for taking care of us in Malaysia. Kita jadi sedar."

So why are there more non-Malay Malaysians taking part in the protests in London? "They feel more liberated out here, I suppose," he said. "Or why don't you ask them?"

I did speak to some of the protesters earlier. More on that later, perhaps.For now, enjoy these pictures ...

69 comments:

Anonymous
said...

Hmm..why can't PR just have 30 representatives in the Bersih 2.0 rally just like in London. And I believe PDRM would willingly approve the assembly. The message is more important then the numbers isn't it not? But then the Bersih organiser said they want to have 300,000 members in the rally. Would London approve such a rally if 300,000 is going to attend just like in KL? I doubt.

That Malay guy says it all. Malays tahu mengenang budi.Bet you, the ones demonstrating are PSD non-Malay scholars.Shouting and demanding scholarships,but are ungrateful wretch.Don't even plan to come home.They are depriving the poor in the rural areas of getting the scholarships.But for Imalaysia, we Malays give in.Madu dibalas dengan tuba.Take away their schoalrships. After all they can afford it. They just take it because of their jealousy towards the BUMIs.

The "Malaysian" protestors in London, mostly non-Malays non Permanent Resident status protestors, because they are just making a portfolio or a case for themselves when they will try to apply for a British Permanent Resident status, by which they will have to go through the usual rigmarole of applying. They will not be given a preferential treatment such as saying if they go back after they have been condemning the Malaysian government abroad that they will be tortured when they had to come home after their visitor visas or student visas expired! A Whitehall friend said the immigration department in London is very much aware of such tactic, employed by many Arabs from the Middle-Eastern countries who want to stay in England, that is to condemn their respective government!

They feel liberated out in London?They are not protesting in support of BERSIH 2 for a clean uncorrupted government?Why Rocky....you have a style to eat some words...throw out some and make the whole message sound how hooligans protest in Malaysia and indirectly..police actions were right.Anyway...Queen wore yellow.Najib talked non stop...Pope smiled ...listened...saying nothing. Silence is golden.Take note..Italy and Britain supports BERSIH 2 walkers!!!

Wow Bro, for once you have, without saying the obvious, actually blamed it all on the PDRM.

If only they had given the permits even without an application being made. If only they had called in the organisers and worked out a route. If only they had worked out a code of conduct. No problems at all.

You have to remember, these guys will not even give a permit for candle light vigilers to assemble off any street on a Sunday evening, like at Civic Centre. So, whose fault is it really?

As for why there might have been more non-Malays than Malays! Well, in Auckland there was an all non-Malay assembly. And all of us who assembled here would be reluctant "migrants"! Education for our children, fed -up with everything in Malaysia, etc. Usual story la. Its hard to pin down really why Malays from Malaysia migrate though. But it would be interesting to work that out.

hmm, i would expected better from you, but again i am not surprised. Another spin lagi, balik balik race juga. Short of conspiring with Aliens, the MSM have connected every single conspiracy there is termasuk Jewish's theory. really kelakar la.

Do you chose to know or not to know that all Govt agencies, Uni's, PSD were given warning not to attend or risk kena potong support. Maybe this kind my conditioning has made lack of leadership in the great race that could have been, tinggal non-malays yang liberated, lebih celik dan got not halangan to give support.

I don't think PDRM will approve even only 30 people involved, unless they're from Perkasa / Patriot or any organization that support PM Najib.

Furthermore, 30 people will not change anything. More people involved would give perception that the claim for fair election need to be fulfilled by Malaysian government. Now everybody sees that the elections so far are unfair and need to be changed. Are they so difficult to change? Unless the government want to defend dirty election for BN leader continuously rob people's money.

Why is it that when they are outside, they have no problem to obey the authorities?

xxx

Why, indeed? In Malaysia, they challenge the police, provoke the police, and even encourage distrust against the police (re corruption, deaths in custody, etc). In London, the top Met Police openly admitted, under pressure during the hacking scandal, that "the Police will always be corrupt". And yet, and yet again, Malaysians who hate their own police and belittle them, they accord the greatest respect to these British "corrupt" cops when they are in Britain.Funny.

hi Anon 11,19am......our wealth comes from sheer hard work...no carrying UMNO B balls.Why should we be grateful to the government?We work 15 hours per day all our lives...and save as much as we can for children's education.The UMNO B crooks are millionaires doing NOTHING...and the big fishes like Mahathir and Najib stole hundreds of millions.Tell me..how come both their families are so filthy rich and can borrow rm100 million from banks with no collateral needed ?

1. any gathering more than 5 without police permit is an illegal gathering (even though this is against our constitution)2. police will not give permit if it was 30 people Bersih 2.0...3. if there is 300,000 people Bersih 2.0 in London... London police will allow it and help to control it. Unlike PDRM4. Why did the Government rejected the Merdeka Stadium as the vanue?. The reason given was just a reason created only to reject the application...5. Those 30 in London are mostly non Malays coz they have freedom to do it while the Malays don't have as most of them are doing their PHDs or student under loan/scholarship from universities, JPA, MARA....

Rocky Bru... are you playing gasing ... spin spin spin.... what a shame....

Rocky do have an art to make Malaysians against the government and police look like traitors and trouble causers.My goodness tons and tons of opinions against these two...all are ignored by Rocky.CORRUPTIONS and double standards applied...he ignores.What a great spinning Rocky has become.

They already tasted blood, courtesy of our good friend Anwar Ibrahim (and Pak Lah and Khairy indirectly). You think they will back down now?

Racism exists in the whole world, 1st or 3rd, rich or poor, black or white (or yellow or brown), whether we like it or not. People will always be more comfortable with people similar to themselves. The best thing that can be done is to build understanding among the races, and build the country equally. So where does that put Malays?

We have to earn our place in the world. By being successful and magnanimous. There is no such thing as 'ketuanan'. There is only power to maintain status quo. Otherwise, we will find an Uighur situation here and be overwhelmed. The China policy in Xinjiang is to move as many Hans as possible there, eliminate the Uighur culture, and own all the resources. It is only natural for any culture to do that. Natural. Normal. Same thing will happen here if the Malays are weak. But if we are strong, and grateful, and fair, maybe we can be judicious to everyone. An evolution in the Malay mindset is needed. Another one. Next level. Its not just about money anymore. Now it is about our culture.

Change the outdated bumiputra policy so that everybody is rightfully represented in the country regardless of race, but work together to retain political power and work harder and be more organized in business to take a piece of the pie. And start defining ourselves in terms of what we contribute to the world (science, arts, literature etc). If not, say bye bye. The world will crush us in our own back yard.

This is the nature of the universe. And that's the way it is, has been, and always will be. In spite of all the people who will shout "racist" at what I just said. To eliminate race is a fool's game. To manage it well is the key. In that respect, I will always hold Tun M in the highest regard.

I've been reading your comments in Rocky's Bru. You must be a Pakatan member/sympathiser/supporter or a just a disgruntled, bitter Malaysian.

Nothing Rocky says is right in your eyes.

You don't get it, do you?But then you are already so biased.

If Malaysian protesters just stay where they're supposed to, the police won't have to react.

YOU KNOW the police will have to react because that's their job. They do not know anyone from Adam. You cross the line, you break the law.

I say, even a kindergarten child will know not to cross the line.

And then you have those who had a great time protesting in Bersih with nary a reaction from the police because they kept to where they're supposed to protest..

And if you, mr Fart, think that the British police or any other police or security authority will allow thousands to march, you're more idiotic than you sound.

And if the protest was by politicians to overthrow their govt???

Bersih 2 organisers THREATENED to protest. Of course, it was an attempt to discredit the government --- to overthrow the government. They said it was for electoral reforms, but you, Mr Fart, knows that that's just an excuse.

Met police admitted their mistakes and transformed into good cops.Malaysian police from those old jungle days till now still behaving like thugs and never owned up their mistakes.That's why Met police earned their respect from the Malaysians abroad.got it bru?

As usual. A pretty pathetic attempt from a pathetic lot. Ho hum...nobody important there. I recognised that one guy from the Nasi Ayam Ipoh Malaysia restaurant, the other guy works the cashier at Waitrose and that one lady tends to the English marm's snot nosed kids.Betul cakap BigDog. Kita yang dah biasa kat UK and US can spot these people a mile away. Overseas semua cakap melayu sebab matsalleh tak paham so senang nak tipu or kutuk. Balik sini action semacam lidah berbelit-belit konon tak tau cakap melayu. Yes you guys know who you are.

Its not about corruption that we are talking here are we? Very specifically its about rallies! And why does anyone provoke the police for? What exactly do you mean provocation of the police? They tell you no rally and you rally, and that is provocation? You hold a candle and that is provocation? How come they don't respect the constitution that gives us the right to assemble? The law that they employ and cite somehow supercedes the constitution?

Anyway, bro, I sometimes feel sorry for you that you are now in a situation you got to write what you write. I know that you'd rather have experienced what it was to be a Malaysian a true 1 Bersih Malaysian in the streets of Kuala Lumpur on 907 then where ever it is you were. Surely no amount of organisations and money and people will be able to recreate that. Might as well tell your friends not to waste their time handing out flags for Merdeka!

Ye Bro, I agreed it was a perfect rally in the heart of London, peaceful and just like going for s family outing.

I have certainly seen peaceful demos in many countries during my call for national duty overseas, but never in my life will ever see a peaceful rally in this beautiful Malaysia. How could we ever have a peaceful rally or demonstration, when Malays generally are known to be "kaki mengamok"? The Chinese are smarter as they do not want to get into trouble for nothing and a waste of time.

Chua Jui Meng was very smart to have mobilised a few bus loads of Chinese and disposed them around KLCC after 4.30pm on July 9 for publicity when all the other Malays were gone. CJM being smarter than CSL and Wee Ka Siong combined with Liow Tiong Lai.The truth is CJM came out an innocent winner and was given wide publicity in the Chinese press.

In my earlier blogging comments, I already mentioned that PDRM had badly handled the whole fiasco of July 9, and will not be able to convince the public that the police didn't use any force, etc even if they could prove with the videos. The opposition will slam them and accused them of producing doctored video clips.

PDRM did not know how to manage a rally from A to Z and had they gathered everyone at Padang Merbok, the rally could have been allowed in a more systematic and controlled manner, even if it was to be held in the Merdeka stadium with a crowd capacity of not more than 30,000 people. The rest of the demonstrators had to disperse or faced police action.

This morning in Marina's column in the Stars, she said that she didn't experience the effects of teargas but yet she believed that it was very harmful. This is a contradicting statement of her experience if she had not experienced teargas. I suggest she should ask those guys from patriot whether the teargas was really dangerous or harmful, instead of her wild accusation.

Maybe she should ask Khairy whether it was harmful when he was so closed to the teargas incident at the junction of Pudu/Bukit Bintang. Yet after less than an hour KJ was back to normal. I recalled that I was also caught in the teargas incident not in KL but in Washington DC in front of the White House.Worse still in US when colored people like us are being treated like dogs and you have to be extremely brave to face the brutality of the police.

In Malaysia, I don't believe PDRM will intentionally hurt our own people when they are doing their duty to control the rowdy crowd. These people in Bersih 2.0 and the opposition are just liars and exaggerating on the bad side of the rally....a storm in a teacup.

Your article might be better served if you could produce statistics on the percentage of the number of non-Malays and Malays who are in the UK on sponsorship by the government, be it in the form of scholarship or employment. One might hypothesise that those, non-Malay or Malay, who are there on sponsorship would be very hesitant to publicly display anti-government tendencies in order to protect their livelihood (if this is the case, I would personally find it difficult to blame them).

With regard to interaction with the police, it appears that the federal gov’t and pro-BN media are quick to publicly make allegations about the violent tendencies of those involved in Bersih. Yet threats of violence come from Perkasa, that silat guru and they have been considered heroes by their underlings. The Bersih marchers were painted with the “guilty” brush, even before the march actually happened. What happened to being innocent before proven guilty?

I expect anti-Bersih commentators to note that there were those in the Bersih March who behaved badly as well. Well, then those people should be charged and arrested, as well as those in the police force who used excessive force to handle the marchers. There should be equal treatment for both citizens and the police force.

By virtue of their duties as custodians of public safety, the police need to show that they are responsible, reliable and trustworthy. Instead there are instances of some in the police force sweeping unsavoury incidents under the carpet, threatening the public and treating society like fools who do not deserve to know what is going on.

The gov’t, opposition and the media should be more responsible with their statements. Sweeping generalisations and blanket statements invites pedantic debate, but do not lead to a viable solution. I will be very disappointed if this was the intention.

some of malays who participate in recent bersih, that i know, live in poverty or have their own businesses. they were the malays who by fate, was not on their side when they grow up. left behind and easy to be influenced.the ones with the businesses were not able to perform better because of the laziness and complacent. both of these groups were trying to find the reasons for their poor existence or non-profitable businesses they are into. The only possible reasons they figured out because of the government. couple with friends who ignite some fires into their mind, it became a good recipe to revolt and hate the government. once the emotions are high, that's it, they cannot analyse situations.

"I tweeted during the dinner that 97 per cent of the protesters were non-Malays. Some people on Twitter were offended and accused me of being a racist. But I was merely stating a fact. A glaring fact."

Likewise, when non-Malays state facts like this with regards to civil service prospects (or lack of it), education opportunities (scholarships for deserving ones) etc, you and the likes of PERKASA, UMNO brand the non-Malays as racist!

Well, it takes two to tango Dato.

And after so many You Tube postings on how the police were handling the 'illegal' protest, now the police pulak nak air their own videos.

This is your idea or by the ex-Reuters guy now in PM's office?

No one can deny that there are at least two sides to the coin (even if you ignore one more side - the circumference).

We like to see both sides of the situation and make our own conclusions.

Pemberontak baju kuning di Loondon sepatutnya if they are indeed truly Malaysian instead demand UK govt toa.remove photo of Tuk Janggut in London museum hanging upside down and badly bruised.b.demand UK gov to pay back for all the natural resources stolen away from Malaya or Tanah Melayu.c.demand those that murdered our Tuk Janggut and other pre-independence freedom fighters be put on trial posthumously.

My friends who studied in London ... may be 20 years back ... informed that ... then on every saturdays ... there will be a demonstrations march from Trafalgar Sq to Hyde Park peacefully ... without any shop closed ... without any police water canon ... just shouting n cheering ... but ... traffic jammed every where.

May be this is wanted by the Bersih Team ... may be PDRM could allow them to gather at Dataran Merdeka ... then marched thru Jalan Hishamuddin to Stadium Merdeka ... no shops within the route ... peaceful is a MUST condition.

Would the Govt & PDRM consider this possibility ?

There are points in Bersih that I thin the Govt need to consider by using IT so that the Rakyat are very sure that the election is completely free of any fraud.

There should, and must be limits where the public, under the guise of democracy be allowed to demonstrate in whatever form or at any venue of their choosing. Street demonstrations are always a catalyst for violence. Who can guarantee or are willing to underwrite the catastrophe when conditions deteriorate from push to shove. There is no such thing as true democracy. Even in the US of A, the so called Land of the Free, guns talk during the Black Panther movement. In the UK, do not forget the race riots where lives and property were not spared. It only takes a small spark to light up the Malaysian sky. And when that happens, god forbid, the population, pro or anti government of the day, will be on their knees seeking solace and comfort from the presence of the police. And this is the same police, the mata mata that you all keep lampooning in your chant for reformasi and revolusi and whatever si anu si.Of course, there are clowns wherever there are politicians. Attempting to stoke the dying ambers of communism as a call to patriotism and thus an extension of anti opposition is simply too farfetched. Cuba, the last bastion of communism is trying its utmost to free itself from the rustic chain of Marx influence. Let us amuse Nazri and give him a clap. He needs that, the poor chap.There is no Fear Factor whereby UMNO can distract us from what we believe in and trust. But we must also be vigilant and see clearly the trees from the forest. Those who think and assume that we are with them have this mentality that they can lead us by the nose. That we are the front liners for them to achieve their own ends. Be extremely wary and careful before we jump in and start chanting the same slogans.

Why don't you zoom into the last bid demonstration held in London where the crowd is way much bigger. Its the same thing. The police were there to guide the otestors on the route that was predtermined. The protestors went about their peaceful ways and there were no massive road blocks into london city.

No tear gas, no nassty cannisters, no chemical laced water cannons, no arrest, ne christian agenda, no silat group intimidation, no belittling in the mainstream media, no PM or the Home Minister discrediting the rally prior, no sermons in churches/mosque/synagogues all over the country discrediting the rally, no calling the demonstrators traitors and no one got hurt or died.

The problem in Malaysia, as you can see from the above, is not the demonstrators but ITS THE POLICE AND THE GOVERNMENT OF THE DAY.

Racial difference still draws a rather thick line in Malaysian politics ... that's why the protesters were 97% non Malays.

However quite the opposite for local BERSIH 2.0 ... more than 80% were Malays ... because the idiotic Malays in PAS and PKR are more than willing to become instruments for Ambiga and subjects to DAP's chauvinistic agenda ... while at the same time they worship the porn star Anwar ...

No one would honestly suggest that cleaning up politics and holding any given government accountable for their actions is not an honorable, noble cause. It is honorable indeed, however, when such a movement takes to the streets but is funded by a foreign government and led by a servants of foreign interests it becomes obvious it has been hijacked in order to exploit the aspirations of a frustrated public for a self-serving agenda. Such a movement will ultimately fail to achieve the goals it proclaims to support and will give rise to corruption and tyranny the likes of which its followers could not imagine.

A recent example of this phenomenon is unfolding in the streets and within the political scene of Malaysia where a movement calling themselves “Bersih,” or the “Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections” has captured the minds and imaginations of Malaysia’s youth and progressive enclaves, both in Malaysia and around the world.

Initially, many Malaysians may naively welcome support from American Institutions, which market themselves on keen selling points such as ‘instilling democracy and funding freedom’, this funding is not intended to alleviate corruption or to justly persecute police brutality, it is intended to increase Washington’s presence in countries integrated in China’s economic orbit and the eventual installation of a compliant Opposition leader, friendly to the bidding of International Financial regulatory bodies and planners of the New Financial World Order.

It should come as no surprise then that his street-front, "Bersih," is likewise entwined with foreign money and foreign interests. The same Ambiga Sreenevasan who claimed "we are fighting for free and fair elections," also admitted on at least one occasion that her Bersih movement received money from the United States government via the National Democratic Institute (NDI), a National Endowment for Democracy (NED) subsidiary, as well as from globalist bankster George Soros' Open Society. The NDI website had until recently posted information confirming this, but has since removed it. Only a Google cached version of the original information can be seen (as of July 9, 2011).

It should be noted that while NED, and its subsidiaries like NDI, Freedom House, and the International Republican Institute (IRI), claim to promote "democracy" internationally, their boards of directors are lined with an almost cartoonish lineup of villains, dengerate big-business interests, warmongers, and war criminals. Francis Fukuyama, Zalmay Khalilzad, Frank Carlucci (2002), Will Marshall, and Vin Weber populate the board of directors of NED, while Kenneth Adelman, Max M. Kampelman, Donald Rumsfeld (formally), Paula Dobriansky, Leonard Sussman, and Ellen Bork are on the board of trustees/executive committee of Freedom House.

Additionally, certified warmongers John McCain and Lindsey Graham pollute IRI's board of directors. It is absurd to suggest men like Donald Rumsfeld, Vin Weber, Frank Carlucci, John McCain, or Kenneth Adelman have any interest in "human rights," "freedom," or "democracy" beyond what they can gain by disingenuously leveraging these noble values. In fact, these very people have been the architects and perpetrators of darkest chapters in recent human history.

John McCain's "sincerity" in democracy and the role his organization played in training and equipping Egyptian protesters to overthrow the Mubarak regime culminated in a recent trip to Cairo, where he was accompanied by Fortune 500 officers seeking to promote "private enterprise." Indeed, this is the final goal of US-funded "democratization," the complete destruction of nationalism along with the economic liberalization and strip mining of the world's various economies.